Discuss The Void
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Could someone actually explain THE STORY? (SPOILERS REQUESTED AND GIVEN IN FIRST POST)
posted by jannSTAFFMOD on July 9, 2017 at 3:03 PM
The most common complaint I see about this movie - and one I wholeheartedly agree with - is that the creature effects were great but the plot was weak, nonsensical or just not there. All I could tell person who asked "what is the movie about?" is:
_A crazy doctor is trying to bring his dead daughter back to life and he forms a cult following (literally). They kill people and the doctor figures out how to create some kind of creatures that are a blending of the bodies of the dead - I think - and then he can get women pregnant by dark magic and they give birth to these same kinds of creatures and he is apparently satisfied that one of those is the embodiment of his dead daughter. In the end, a hero sacrifices himself by pushing the doctor into "the void" (though the doctor actually keeps calling it "the abyss" but there's already a movie with that name so I guess they could't use it) and goes into it with him.
Two people appear to survive. We don't know the status of the whole rest of the world outside the hospital where all the action takes place. And then at the end we see the hero and his previously dead ex-wife alive and well in the "void", apparently. They just stand there and stare and then the credits roll._
Anybody else got any ideas?
Reply by ScochS
on July 10, 2017 at 6:12 PM
SPOILERS jann, looks like you summed up the play by play of the movie right there! Most of other people's complaints about this film seem to directly tie into what your questions and observations are above.
My personal enjoyment of the film arrives from the main cop's/Daniel Carter's point of view; looking at it from his perspective:
The intro foreshadows something horrible is going on in the local area. Cops pick up some tweeker who saw "something" no one will care to listen to, much less believe. A nurse randomly turns dangerous/deadly. Dangerous, masked weirdos surround the hospital and communication is shut off. Paranoia and fear grip the Hospital because why did so and so become a monster and what/why is this happening? Cryptic clues pop up about the Doc's involvement into something strange and that directly conflicts with the main cops relationship with said Doctor. More grotesque absurdities and Doctor's/ex-wife's disappearance create urgency for action. Whatever mystery is unfolding seems to create more questions and more horrible creations shoe-horn themselves between saving the Ex-wife and stopping the Doctor (from whatever in god's name) he's doing. Astonishment ensues when main cop gets to ex and sees skinless Doc and acolytes doing their weirdness. Cop (Daniel Carter) overwhelms significant odds to find himself transferred "somewhere" that defies explanation.
So, for me, looking at this whole thing through Daniel Carter's eyes - there is confusion and horror. I, the viewer, don't know what's going on because Daniel doesn't either, except for the bare minimum information: People are being hurt, ex-wife is in trouble (and so are a few other tax payer's at the hospital!) random people seem to have "some" information that corroborates/validates events as they are transpiring and then finally - this grand WTF just happened and where is this place conclusion.
I'm just as confused as Daniel Carter is. Obviously, Movies like the Thing (1982) were masterful at raising more questions than answering them, which enhanced that films EPIC TURBO AWESOMENESS. And that film took years to get it's cult following. I'm not saying the Void is going to be like the Thing or anything like that. But the Void's gonna have viewer problems because getting immersed in the events through Daniel Carter's POV is difficult to pull off. Especially with cut scenes away from his perspective that also don't obviously contribute to the viewer's enhanced understanding of said events.
Confused? So was Daniel Carter. I just enjoy the popcorn and the ultra-violence.
Cheers!